Rinya and Megumi responded immediately and headed out together—clearly off on a date.
Natsuki chuckled. "Aoba-sensei, your cousin sure moves fast."
Aoba shrugged. "That Rinya kid's pretty sharp. When you meet a cute girl like Megumi, you better make a move early—otherwise, you'll have no place to cry later."
"Hehe, yeah, smart move. But what about you, Aoba-sensei? Why didn't you go after Shizune-senpai back then? Don't you think she's cute? Are you crying now with nowhere to go?"
"You little punk! How dare you tease your teacher! Get out and go walk the streets!"
Aoba kicked Natsuki out the door. Truthfully, he did have nowhere to cry. How was he supposed to know Tsunade-sama would take Shizune with her and disappear for years?
Back in their academy class, there were only three really cute girls: Kurenai, Shizune, and Rin. Rin had already sacrificed herself, Kurenai had Asuma pursuing her, and Shizune was MIA. The guys in their generation were really out of luck! And now Natsuki was rubbing salt in the wound—he deserved a beating!
Natsuki slipped into the streets.
He had to admit, this was worthy of being the capital of the strongest nation in the ninja world. The Land of Fire was naturally prosperous thanks to its geography, and the capital where the Daimyō resided was incredibly lively—even at night. Bright lights, laughter, joy. It was as if this ninja world wasn't chaotic at all.
Maybe that's just how the ninja world works:
Ninja villages can fight each other to the death, but no one touches the Daimyōs. That would be crossing a line.
The Daimyōs ruled the countries—they had wealth and power. Ninja villages were just military institutions under their command, and generally followed their orders. Even the so-called Great Ninja Wars were more like strategy games the Daimyōs played with each other.
To someone from a unified, strong country, this would be baffling.
If a power-hungry nationalist showed up here, the Daimyōs would be overthrown in an instant. After all, aside from status and money, the Daimyōs had nothing—no personal strength, no elite armies. When trouble came, they had to rely on the ninja villages. How could someone like that rule a nation?
Overthrow them! Overthrow them all!
Unify the entire ninja world!
Then, take Hinata, Ino, Kurotsuchi, Karin, Mei—all of them!
Maybe even Granny Chiyo if you're ruthless enough!
Well, those are the thoughts of ambitious lunatics. Natsuki just found it exhausting. What's the point of conquering a twisted world like this? He had no interest in living that kind of life.
Natsuki strolled around the city, bought some trinkets to bring back for Tenten. As for his future father-in-law? No need.
Before he left the village, when reporting to his soon-to-be father-in-law, the man said:
"Natsuki, do you know how many businesses our family owns? Since you're heading to the Fire Capital, check out a few shops. Just take it as familiarizing yourself with the family assets…"
So, during his stroll, Natsuki did find the shops—an inn, a restaurant, a textile store, and more.
Forget just familiarizing himself—next time he'd come with Tenten to really make it official.
And since the family already had businesses in the capital, there was no need to buy a gift for the old man. Natsuki didn't have much money anyway, and cheap trinkets wouldn't impress him.
But Tenten was different. Even a small gift would make her happy, and show that her boyfriend always had her in mind.
With the gifts bought, Natsuki began heading back to the inn.
He hadn't walked far when he saw Rinya and Megumi in the distance, walking hand in hand. Megumi was even feeding Rinya a sausage skewer. Both had sweet, innocent smiles.
Yup, just as he suspected!
The only problem? The two were so focused on their date that they didn't notice someone following them!
Natsuki's eyes narrowed. A figure was stealthily trailing behind them, walking like a trained shinobi. He could even sense faint chakra from them.
Who would dare stalk Konoha's ninja?
And what was their goal?
Natsuki immediately slowed his pace and began tailing the stalker.
He followed the stalker all the way to the inn. Rinya and Megumi shyly let go of each other's hands and entered the building, while the stalker turned to leave.
But just as the stalker turned around—they were startled to see Natsuki suddenly standing right in front of them.
Without a word, Natsuki slapped them on the forehead, knocking them out cold. He quickly patted them down and found—ten forehead protectors.
"Huh? A music note? Otogakure?! From Orochimaru?!"
The appearance of an Otogakure ninja made Natsuki cautious.
He hadn't paid much attention to Orochimaru before, thinking the Konoha Crush plan was still far off. Even if Orochimaru had returned to the village, he would've just been making secret deals with Danzo and not causing trouble yet. But now, it seemed the Chūnin Exams were approaching—and so was the Konoha Crush.
So what was this Otogakure ninja's goal in following Konoha shinobi?
Just recon? Kidnapping? Assassination?
Natsuki couldn't be sure, so he dragged the person back to the inn and knocked on Aoba's door. He also signaled with a special code to summon Rinya and Megumi.
"What happened?" Aoba opened the door quickly. Upon seeing the unconscious person in Natsuki's hand, his expression turned serious.
Rinya and Megumi rushed in and were a bit confused, but they didn't ask questions—they followed Natsuki and Aoba into the room.
Aoba used chakra to scan the surroundings and confirmed no one was eavesdropping. Then he turned back to Natsuki.
Natsuki pulled out the Otogakure headband. "On the way back, I saw this guy secretly following Rinya and Megumi, so I trailed him. When he tried to leave, I knocked him out and found this on him."
Rinya and Megumi's expressions changed.
They didn't expect to be tailed—especially by someone other than Natsuki. Having their relationship exposed was one thing, but being followed by a stranger without realizing it? That was a serious problem.
Aoba glanced at his cousin but said nothing.
Instead, he took the headband and looked it over. "Otogakure? I heard the Land of Rice Fields established Otogakure recently. The Hokage was curious but didn't send anyone to investigate. Now one of their shinobi is following ours—what's their aim?"
That's your job to find out, Aoba-sensei!
You can read minds!
Realizing he asked a dumb question, Aoba performed some hand seals, placed his palm on the enemy's head, and began reading their mind.
A moment later, Aoba's eyes sharpened, and he blurted out—
"Orochimaru…"
He quickly shut up, realizing he nearly said too much in front of the students.
But his expression had turned extremely serious—his usual relaxed demeanor completely gone.
(End of Chapter)
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